Edwardsville's Pinkas wins Gold Medal Tourney

ALTON - Kevin Pinkas of Edwardsville remembers the last time he competitively played the Rock Spring Course in Alton.

"It was back in the early 1990s," said Pinkas, 36, and an EHS graduate. "Dick Gerber was our coach and we'd played Alton in (Southwestern) Conference matches here."

Pinkas must have remembered his lessons well. He torched the par-70 Rock for a 5-under 135 score to win the Championship Flight of the 60th annual Gold Medal Golf Tournament. Pinkas fired a 66 Saturday and had a 69 Sunday.

He finished five shots ahead of runner-up Lewis Bain, a Scotland native and player at Lewis and Clark Community College. Bain recorded a 67 Sunday, following his first-round score of 73 to close at 140. Dee Ketchum took third at 141, Jim Odle placed fourth at 142 and John Fischer was 143.

Odle said Pinkas finished Sunday what the ex-Tiger started Saturday.

"He outplayed everybody by a bunch," Odle said. "He wore us out."

Ketchum added, "He's a good player and he has a good iron game."

Pinkas did get in nine holes of practice Wednesday at Rock Spring and that refresher course may have propelled his torrid weekend play.

"I hadn't played in this tournament before, but Jim Odle got me into it this year," Pinkas said. "The course reminds me a lot of the Highland Country Club because you need to keep the ball below the hole. It's really a fun course for as old as it is."

And Pinkas had more than his share of fun.

"My iron play was more solid than it has been in some other tournaments," Pinkas said. "I've been working hard, but it has been sort of a rough year for me.

He added, "The big thing about playing this course is to play it smart and not get in trouble off the tees. If you try too hard to make birdies, you can get in trouble."

He rated the Gold Medal championship, worth $1,000, as one of the chief accomplishments of his golf career. Pinkas, who is in the account management business, also won the Wilbur Suhre Memorial Tournament three times at the Oak Brook Course in Edwardsville.

Bain tried to push Pinkas, but he trailed the first-day leader by seven strokes going into the final 18 holes and realized it'd take an unusual turn of events to win.

"I was happy with the way I played Sunday, but I came up a little short," Bain said. "But I never gave up and I made some putts."

He intends on playing another season at LCCC and then going on to a four-year school to secure a college degree. Bain is from Edinburgh, Scotland.

Scooby Evans shot af 151 for the best score in A Flight. Rob Eckhard and Terry Landon both shot a 163 score to share B Flight honors. Bruce Vest and Tony Schwartz tied for first place in C Flight. They had scores of 173.